Jill Sampson

Seedbank

Seedbank
2012
Plaster sculptures (made previously), paper dyed using local plants
(Seedbank images below, all photos Jill Sampson)

As the Anthropocene continues to unfold vast quantities of seeds are being stored in vaults around the world. Seed Banks have been created by  humans thinking forward into an uncertain future where the best possible insurance policy for survival is the safekeeping of plant seeds from a changing planet. If our planetary systems collapse and all is left are the seeds, who will carry them from the seed vaults? Who will germinate them; who will water them; who will tend them? Or will they manage to migrate themselves back out into a changed environment?

Seedbank is a story telling device. Oversized seedpods are carved in plaster and here laid on paper that has been imprinted and dyed using vegetation sourced from surrounding plant life. Imagine children sitting around these objects, while  a person known as a knowledge keeper tells the story of plants that used to grow wild here.

Tracks 1, 2, 3.
2012
Steel and copper wire, paper dyed using local plants, conte, shadows
(Tracks images below, photos Jill Sampson)

Wire is wound and woven into a spiral structure, meandering like a long, drawn out journey from one point to another. Some points touch the Earth and some sit above, strained and taunt across landscape. Points of tension pierce down onto the paper and draw our eyes to shadow-lines repeating the patterns of wire. It is difficult to discern where the wire sculpture finishes and the shadows begin. Everywhere are traces and tracks of the local environment, reflecting on journeys into the landscape of inland Australia. 

Gifts for the future

Gifts for the Future,
2012
vintage wool blankets, paper, yarn, plant materials from Bimblebox Nature Refuge, eco-dyed paper, conte.
(Gifts for the future images below, all photos Jill Sampson)

Gifts for the future, is a body of work begun at the Bimblebox Nature Refuge during the 2012 artist residency. These objects, all part of the eco-dying process, have never been unwrapped or opened. As objects, tied and wrapped, they embody a gift and hold all the hope, excitement and promise that a gift holds. I will never know how the patterns of the plants mark and move on the inside of these papers and blankets. Just like I don’t know what the future holds. Each of these are gifted forward, into a world unknown yet gifted with hope and love. It is possible these objects, carrying plants and dyes from Bimblebox, will outlive this threatened nature refuge?

Each of these gifts are placed on paper imprinted with the plants of this place and this time. The final image (below) is an unwrapped gift. It carries the clear image of a yellow button flowered plant from the Bimblebox Nature Refuge.
A gift for the future.